Tank and Bodywork

The Metalworker

Terry Hall – master craftsman, armourer, sculptor

When Terry Hall left school at the age of sixteen, he took up an apprenticeship as a coach builder. Quite a few vehicles were coach built in those days although mass production using body dies accounted for the bulk of vehicle production. Terry did not instantly take to the job. “I was more attracted to the metalworking side,” he explains, “So after a while I was transferred to panel beating. He served his apprenticeship and, at the age of 21, started work as a car body repairer. “I was planning to get married and that’s where the money was,” he says.
His next move was out of the motor trade when he became works manager of a company that made shop fitting equipment. He spent fifteen years there before he felt the need for a change. He and his wife Joan moved to their current home, a beautiful old house in the Shropshire countryside, and Terry began to look for things to do. He already had a long association with off-road bikes and made tanks and other bits in his spare time.
He asked around and got a few orders for petrol tanks. “Then in 1993 I put together some of my parts and took a stand at the Stafford Classic Bike Show and that was it,” Terry said. He’s been constantly busy for the past nineteen years. When we took The Enigma 1050 to him,

there were a number of jobs in progress in his workshop, including a petrol tank for the BSA C15 engined trials bike that you can see in the picture bottom right. “If anyone asks what I do,” he says, “I tell them that I make veteran, vintage and classic motorcycle parts but my forte is making petrol tanks.”
That’s not all though. The armour that you can see in the picture on the right is one of many sets that Terry has made for the Household Cavalry. The helmets, breastplates and backplate are all hand made from mild steel and nickel plated on completion. Up close they are as much sculpture as metalwork. The detail is breathtaking and the execution faultless. Can you get any more British than that?
As well as making the tank for the Enigma 1050, Terry is also going to make the rear bodywork as a one-off. Like the tank, the bodywork will be formed in aluminium alloy. However, this will not be the final piece. We will be using the tank as is but for the bodywork we will be taking moulds from Terry’s aluminium masters and having the finished bodywork made in carbon fibre.
Got something that you need making for your bike? Contact Terry on 01939 220 422 (office hours only) or email him moc/tenretnitb//tj/llahyrret